Material unloading chute for trucks



Dec. a, 1949 J. w. DAvls 3 9 v MATERIAL UNLOADING CHUTE FOR TRUCKS FiledMarch 22, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet l Mil.

BY WM? Dec. 6, 1949 J. wfDAvls MATERIAL UNLOADING CHUTE FOR TRUCKS 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 22, 1946 Dec. 6 1949 J. w. DAVIS MATER IALUNLOADING CHUTE FOR TRUCKS Filed March 22, 19 46 4 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR. Jbs ah 74 pa 7/":

Deco 6 1949 J. w. DAVlS 1 MATERIAL UNLOADING 'CHUTE FOR TRUCKS FiledMarch 22, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR. Jase 2b 21 De W's PatentedDec. 6, 1949 ilNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a material unloading chute for trucks and thelike and concerns itself primarily with an auxiliary conveying chuteadapted for positioning at either end of the main transversely extendingconveyor and swingable to various angular relations therewith and drivenby the conveyor operating mechanism.

According to this invention, it is possible to remove the unloadingchute from one end of the conveyor with a portion of its drivingmechanism and attach the same to the other end of the conveyor andcoupling the removable driving mechanism with the stationary drivingmechanism and through a remote control the unloading mechanism may beset in motion from the rear end of the truck.

Other features of the invention will be described and pointed out as thedescription proceeds.

The invention comprises the novel structure and combination of partshereinafter described and more particularly pointed out and defined inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred form of thisinvention and. in which similar reference numerals refere to similarfeatures in the different views:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a truck with a main transverseunloading conveyor to which a chute involving this invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the truck body in tiltedor unloading position;

Fig. 3 is a rear end elevational view taken from the line 3-3 of Fig. 2looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken upon the line Ll-t of Fig. 3 loading inthe direction of the arrows and on a reduced scale;

5 is a top plan view of a portion of the chassis of the truck with themain conveyor and chute;

ig. 6 is a top :plan view of the main conveyor and the chute orauxiliary conveyor;

Fig. '7 is a side elevational view of the main conveyor and chute;

Fig. 8 is a sectional View of the removable gear box;

Fig. 9 is a top view of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an open view of the stationary gear box and Fig. 11 is afragmentary view illustratin the swung up and hooked to the body of thetruck;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged section on the line l2--|2 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged section on the line l3-l3 of Fi 7.

In referring now to the drawing, it will be observed that the inventionis shown applied to a coal truck having a. tiltable body l2 to the rearend of which is hinged a transversely extending conveyor 53 in a mannerdisclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 599,933, filed June16, 1945, now Patent No. 2,484,689 granted October 11, 1949, and bracedby telescopic adjustable radius rods M which pivotally connect theconveyor with the truck frame in such a manner that the conveyor can beswung or folded upwardly and hooked to the body as shown in Fig. 11.

Upon the lower frame members of the conveyor [3 there is secured astationary gear box IE the interior of which is shown in Fig. 10. Ashaft I6 is journalled in suitable bearings in the gear box and looselycarries a pair of confronting bevelled pinions l! and I8 and a terminalbevelled pinion l9 which meshes with a pinion 28 on a shaft Zilaextending transversely through the housing. Upon the outer end of shaftl6, there is a sprocket wheel 2| to which reference will later .be made.The gear box I5 is provided with an L-shaped exterior bracket 22, whichforms the outer bearing for a driving shaft 23 adapted to be connectedwith a driven shaft 24 through a friction clutch 25 operated through ashifting lever 26. The inner end of the driven shaft 24 carries abeveled pinion 21 which is adapted for driving either of the bevelledpinions I? or 58, either of which may be clutched to the shaft itthrough a clutch 26 slidably splined upon the shaft it between thepinions I1 and I8 and actuated by a lever 29. The driving shaft 23 hasaffixed thereon a sprocket wheel 30. The sprocket wheel 30 is geared bya sprocket chain 35 (Fig. 5) with a sprocket gear 32 secured upon ashaft 33 which is journalled in a bracket 3:3 secured to the rear end ofthe truck frame and in a gear box 35 fixed to the rear corner of theframe. A. pinion 36 upon the shaft 33 within the gear box 35 meshed witha ear 3'! secured upon a shaft 38 journalled in bearings 39 secured tothe truck frame adjacent one side thereof.

The shaft 38 is connected by sprocket gearing 40 with a shaft 4!journalled in the truck frame and connected to a hydraulic motor or pumpt2 which is supplied by fluid from a fluid tank or.

cylinder is through pipes or hose M and 35. It

might be mentioned that shaft 4| extends into the transmission of thepower plant of the truck.

3 Operation of the shaft 4i will initiate operation of the hydraulicmotor, an operation which will draw the fluid into the hydraulic motorand cause its operation for increasing the power which is used forlifting or tilting the truck body.

The aforementioned sprocket gear 2! on shaft 16 is connected by sprocketgearing 46 with the head sprocket of the main conveyor I3 as shown inFig. 5.

Rearward of the gear box IE, there is a removable gear box l? removablymounted upon the lower frame of the main conveyor 13, for a swivelmovement. To this end, the gear box 41 has a central vertical shaft 18(Fig. 8) which is preferably stationary and extends above the gear boxwhere it is slidably secured to a slotted bar 49 by means of a removablenut 50. The bar 49 is supported at the bottom of the conveyor frame bymeans of transverse slotted bars and an intermediate pivot clamp '52.The transverse supports 5! may be secured in proper location by terminalflanges '5la or in any other manner. The gear box is made of tworelatively rotatable sections die and l'ib so that they can rotaterelatively when the chute is swung at right angles as will later appear.

In referring to Fig. 12, it will be noted that the slotted bar 39 whichis supported near its ends upon the transverse slotted braces 5! isadapted to be clamped in any position of adjustment by clamping bolts 53having wing nuts 53a. At the medial pivot point of the bar 49 there is achannel-like support 55?) (Fig. 13) secured to the conveyor above thegear box IE. he bar 49 passes over this support 55b and is pivotedthereto by means of a metal strap lta or the like passing around the bar49 and having a pivot stud 49b pivoted in the bottom of the channelsupport 5lb.

The slots Sic in the supports 5i extend substantially co-extensive withthe conveyor and the bar as has slots 39c extending from each side ofthe pivot clamp '52. As a result, when the wing nuts 53a are loosened,the bar 49 can be swung in azimuth upon pivot 49b and clamped in anyadjusted position by tightening the nuts. At the same time, the swivelgear box 41 will allow the chute or secondary conveyor 53 to pivot andswing so that it can be extended to discharge in a lateral direction atright angles to the main conveyor. As the bar 49 can be swung in eitherdirection, clockwise or counter-clockwise, the chute 13 can be adjustedto discharge from either side of the main conveyor. The chute 13 withits bearing box 41 and shaft 58 can be quickly removed from one end. ofthe conveyor and attached at the other end as will later more fullyappear.

A double faced beveled gear 53 (Fig. 8) is rotatably mounted upon theshaft 48 within the gear box 5-7. This gear is preferably confinedbetween a pair of spaced collars 54 on said shaft. The lower face of thegear 53 is in mesh with a bevel pinion 55 on a shaft 55 extending intothe housing. The shaft 56 has a flexible coupling connection '51 with ashaft 58 best shown in Fig. '7. The shaft 58 has a flexible couplingconnection 59 with the left-hand end of the aforementioned shaft 20a.The flexible coupling 59 is readily removable from the left-hand end ofshaft 20a for attachment to the right-hand end 202) of said shaft whenit is desired to move the chute from one end of the conveyor to theother end as will later more fully appear.

The upper face of the bevel gear 53 in gear box 4! is in mesh with abevel pinion 60 which is secured upon a shaft 6| journalled in a bearingarm 62 on the casing. The outer end of said shaft 5| extends into acasing 63 where it carries a spur gear 64 which meshes with an idlergear 65 which in turn drives a spur gear 66 secured to a shaft 67 in thecasing. The shaft 61 extends through a bearing formed upon the casingand is fashioned for receiving one end of the driving shaft 68 of thechute. A suitable manner of fashioning the outer end of shaft 6'! forsuch a purpose is to provide a suitable slot 69 therein for receivingone end of the shaft 68.

It will be noted that the gear box 41 is cylindrical in form and thatdiametrically opposite the bearing arm F52 there is a curved arm 10(Fig. 9) terminating in a vertical portion "(0a, extending parallel tothe casing 63. This parallel portion 79 is provided with an adjustablehearing (I which may be adjusted by a wing bolt 12. This bearing isadapted for receiving the other end of the shaft 68. Thus, the gear box41 with its laterally extending arms 62--63 and 107lla forms the headsupport for the chute or auxiliary conveyor 13.

The chute or secondary conveyor 13 consists of side walls 13a with ahead roller 14 on the shaft 68 for supporting the endless conveyor beltor apron 15 as is usual in the art. The side walls of the chute 13 arecut away for about twenty inches at their upper forward portionsadjacent the main conveyor and slide pieces 16 (Fig. '7) are inserted atthe cut-out portions and maintained in position by guide keepers 11. Itwill be noted that the rear ends of the slide plates is overlap the sidewalls; they are adapted to be shifted or adjusted with respect to themain conveyor so as to provide proper cooperative relation for receivingthe material from the main conveyor especially when the chute is atright angles to the main conveyor as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6.

In some instances, it may be desirable to use a tandem chute, and inFig. 3 a tandem chute is shown in which the second chute '18 may besuspended by means of yokes 19 from the rear end of the chute 13. Thesecond secondary conveyor may be operated by sprocket gearing from thetail end of the chute 13 as is obvious.

When the conveyor is not in use, as when the truck is traveling, it maybe desirable to fold the main conveyor against the rear of the truck, asshown in Fig. 11, and fasten the same by hooks 80 or the like. When itis desired to use this feature, it is necessary to use a longer drivesprocket as and use a spring tension roller 8| in connection therewith.This tension roller 8| will be mounted upon a pair of arms 82 which maybe those of an integral yoke pivotally mounted upon the truck frame andcontrolled by a coil spring in a manner well known. Of course, beforefolding the main conveyor, the chute will be removed.

When the truck body has been tilted for an unloading operation, theattendant standing at the rear end of the truck can control theoperation of the unloading mechanism through the manipulation of thelever 26 which controls the driving and reversing gears and through acable 84 (Fig. 5) which may be mounted along side of the truck andextend to the engine control in the cab of the truck.

In use, it is possible to adjust the chute 13 from a position inalignment with an end of the conveyor to a position at right anglesthereto while maintaining the driving relation as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 6. Moreover, the chute can be swung to discharge either to theright or to the left; that is, to either side. It is also possible touncouple the gear box 4'! from the conveyor frame, and disconnect theshaft 58 from the shaft 290. and position the chute 1'3 at the oppositeend of the conveyor as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 6 and 4. Whenthis is done, the drive will, of course, be reversed through lever 29.

It will be noted that the shaft 58 is connected with the lower section41b of the gear box 41 While the arms 62 and 1'2 that support the chuteare on the upper section 4111. As a result, one section will turnrelative to the other section during swinging movements of the chute asshown in Fig. 6.

The main conveyor trough which may be rnade of one piece is shownprovided with slots 85 (Fig. 4) in the bottom for the removal of dustand dirt which may be received in a receptacle therebeneath.

After the truck has been tilted to unloading position, the attendant canstand at the rear of the truck and through the cable 84 be able to startthe power mechanism for operating the main conveyor and the chute. Atthe same time, through the manipulation of the lever 25, the conveyoroperating mechanism can be clutched to the driving shaft. The lever 29is adapted to control the direction of the drive which may be direct orreverse.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that a novel combination ofunloading conveyors has been provided for a truck involving a transverseconveyor and a chute which may be attached adjacent either end of theconveyor, or removed from one end and attached to the other, and put inproper operation through the driving clutch the reversing gears and thecable control in a convenient manner from a position at the rear of thetruck.

I am aware that many changes may be made and various details variedwithout departing from the principles of this invention, so I do notpropose limiting the patent granted otherwise than necessitated by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a material hauling truck having a longitudinally tiltable body, ahorizontally disposed conveyor attached transversely of the rear of saidbody, means for driving said conveyor from the power plant of said truckincluding a gear box rigid on the bottom of the conveyor, a two-endedshaft extending through said gear box transversely of the truck, eachend of said shaft being fashioned for coupling relation with a secondshaft, a second gear box, means for removably mounting said second gearbox on the bottom of the conveyor for swivel and slidable movements, asecondary conveyor supported by said second gear box, and driving meansfor said secondary conveyor carried by said second gear box and having aremovable coupling relation with a selected end of said shaft extendingthrough the first gear box.

2. In a material hauling truck having a longitudinally tiltable body, atransversely extending and horizontally disposed conveyor attached tothe rear end of said body, a stationary gear box attached to the bottomof said conveyor, a shiftable gear box having a movable and swivel connection with the bottom of the conveyor in spaced relation to thestationary gear box and adjacent one end of the conveyor, said shiftablegear box having oppositely extending arms, a chute supported by saidarms, a driving connection between said secondary conveyor and shiftablegear box, a flexible and removable driving connection between said gearboxes, and a driving connection between the power plant of said truckand said stationary gear box.

3. In a material hauling truck having a tiltable body, a transverseconveyor upon the rear of said body, means for driving said conveyorfrom the power plant of said truck including reversing gearing on saidconveyor, a swivel gear housing mounted for bodily movement on theconveyor frame adjacent one end thereof, said gear housing havingsupports, a chute mounted upon said supports and driving meansconnecting said chute with said reversing gearing including a flexibleshaft having a removable connection With said reversing gearing.

4. In a material hauling truck having a tiltable body a conveyorextending transversely upon the rear of said body, means for drivingsaid conveyor from the power plant of said truck including a reversinggearing on said conveyor, a cylindrical gear housing movably supportedupon said conveyor and comprising relatively rotationa1 sections, achute supported by one section and a driving connection from the othersection to said reversing gearing and including a flexible shaft, thefirst section having a driving connection to said chute.

5. In a material hauling truck having a tiltable body, a conveyorextending transversely of the rear of said body, a chute removablyattached to one end of said conveyor and means for supporting said chutefor swinging movements for discharging from either side of saidconveyor, said chute having side walls with adjustable portions adjacentsaid conveyor to provide an opening into said chute when the same isswung at right angles to the conveyor.

6. In a material hauling truck having a longitudinally tiltable body, ahorizontally disposed conveyor extending transversely of the rear ofsaid body and a chute having a selective movable and swivel relation toeither end of said conveyor, said chute having side walls with oppositeselectively openable portions adjacent that end proximate the conveyorfor transfer of material when said chute is swung to discharge in alateral direction to said conveyor.

JOSEPH W. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 710,611 Ray Oct. '7, 19021,515,328 Barkmann et a1 Nov. 11, 1924 1,553,597 Clark Sept. 15, 19252,102,432 Nesseth Dec. 14, 1937 2,293,486 Barrett Aug. 18, 19422,304,249 Erickson Dec. 8, 1942 2,321,168 Tognetti June 8, 1943

